If you get tired of a summer of reruns and reality shows, don’t fret.
Two networks have beefed up their late-summer plans for new, scripted episodes. PBS will start “Grantchester” on July 10, with a second season of “Guilt” on Aug. 28; CW has an Australian comedy (“Bump) and two Italian dramas – “Leonardo”(shown here) and “Devils” – that include British or American stars. Read more…
For fans of the lush “Sanditon” series (shown hee), PBS has semi-encouaging news:
It will be back … well, sometime. And probably in 2022.
“They are just about three weeks into filming now,” Susanne Simpson, the “Masterpiece” producer, told the Television Critics Association. “But you will see ‘Sanditon’ next year.”
Based on a novel that Jane Austen had barely started, the show created a seaside world filled with schemes, ambition and romance. It drew mildly favorable reviews from critics and strongly favorable comments from viewers … but the British company that created it decided against a second season. Read more…
For “Masterpiece” fans, waiting for the new vicar is like waiting for Halley’s Comet or a Cubs pennant.It takes patience … but yes, it’s worth it.
On July 28 – in the season’s third week and fourth episode – Tom Brittney finally takes over as Will Davenport, the crimesolving vicar in a little English village. He replaces James Norton, who had finished his three-year contract and stayed for some transition episodes.
In some ways, it might not seem like a big change. Both stars are tall, handsome and young; Norton is 34, Brittney is 28.But this is set at a time when a few years seemed like a new generation.
“I represent this sort of youth coming in at the end of the ’50s – the rock ‘n’ roll, leather-jacket-wearing, motorbike-riding, Elvis-listening people,” Brittney said. Read more…
